Copyright Arkansas Online
For a few hours on Sunday, Little Rock became the center of the sweet potato pie universe. A group of cooks and food enthusiasts gathered on the third floor of the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center to participate in the 12th annual "Say It Ain't Say's" Sweet Potato Pie Contest. The event's namesake is the late Robert "Say" McIntosh, a political and community activist, who was known as the "Sweet Potato Pie King of Little Rock." Sunday was the second time the contest has been held since McIntosh died in 2023. "This contest is an opportunity for us to continue to celebrate Arkansas traditions and culture, not only through our exhibits downstairs, but through cultural experiences and food," said Quantia "Key" Fletcher, director of the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center. "We know that food often plays a large part in history and in food ways and culture." Fletcher said the contest began "because we wanted a way to continue to connect culture, food and community." Fletcher recalled that a "resounding" number of people said "if you're going to do a food competition in Little Rock, you gotta do a sweet potato pie competition, and it has to be named after 'Say' McIntosh. "He always said that nobody's pie matched up to his," Fletcher said. The judges on Sunday included McIntosh's widow, Derotha McIntosh; Greg Henderson; Broadway Joe Booker; and Marty Ryall, the director of the Division of Arkansas Heritage. Of the eight entrants into the contest, four had competed in it before. One of those entrants was Loretta Ellington of Marvel. Last year, Ellington's creation came in third place. The plaque she received in recognition for it was displayed proudly on her table next to a basket of sweet potatoes. "Those potatoes were actually grown in my backyard," Ellington said. "I started watching a lot of gardening shows back in 2020, and this man shows how to how to make sweet potatoes grow. And I started trying to figure it out." Ellington took part in last year's contest at the urging of her daughter. "The other thing I like about this contest, you get to meet a lot of people and just talk about thing you like to do," Ellington said. "I've just become a master gardener, so all my master gardener friends that came to support me today." Ellington exited the contest with the support of the public, as her pie won the People's Choice award for favorite pie. Another returning winner was Candice Bailey. Bailey, who wore and apron that had the words "Sassy Spoon" on it, won first place in 2023. However, she said, life got in the way, and the Little Rock cook wasn't able to defend her title last year. "I'm a member of Jack and Jill of America," Bailey said. "I'm also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., and we had some big projects going on last year around this time. So I couldn't make it here because we were raising money for the children scholarships." Bailey returned with a close rendition of her first place offering from 2023, a traditional sweet potato pie topped with a homemade marshmallow fluff and pecans with an all-butter crust. "The only difference is I had a brown sugar whipped cream on top of it (in 2023)," Bailey said. "But I've been feeling sweet potato casseroles lately, so instead of the brown sugar whipped cream, I went ahead and did a homemade style." Unfortunately for Bailey, it wasn't enough to reclaim her sweet potato pie crown; she took home third place, as the top prize went to Carla Nichols and second place went to Vernice Meadows. "I'm often here at Mosaic, and the organizations I'm part of, we do a lot with the community here," Bailey said. "So every year that I come out, it's so good to see everybody that comes. ... I do love getting to see all the different varieties."
